Welcome to the first issue of Lit Bits. This article is posted weekly including features, groups, contests, and literary news among other things.

FEATURE

POETRY
HeavenSounds like nitrous
Filled vital to my brim
With auspicious dangers
Laced in a pool of vibrant
Sulfur  -
Shadows placed
On the breaking dawn,
Dancing on the words
'going home' with an
All to witty apprehension  
Of tomorrows 'yesterday'
Feel.
Just above my roots, planted
Here, above the faces I've always
Known. Like Sundays liquor in Dublin
Or Russia's desolate Siberia.
Leaving, no packs of candied goods
No medicine - or tranquil breaks
At the foot of 'life's passed me by' waterfall.
Just another flagstone walkway
Under a sun-still day - fathers songs
And mothers pleas, playing from
The cotton of the sky. Sulfuric tears
Burning in hearts of cherubim made
Of beaten men's hearts.
Children's days spent faraway
In made up worlds like this -
Faces daily true - hold my hand.  
On the Volga waiting for paradise
In the Sea of Caspian.
Angels still, like  statues in the quarts
Built museum, echo's of my prayers
Thunderous like one thousand engines, of
the Les PaulA body of wood,
Steel strings and a shining soul,
Sing eternally. Friends without facesWe sit and we type, and we stare at our screens
We all have to wonder, what this possibly means.
With our mouse we roam, through the rooms in a maze
Looking for something or someone, as we sit in a daze.
We chat with each other, we type all our woes
Small groups we do form, and gang up on our foes.
We wait for somebody, to type out our name
We want recognition, but it is always the same.
We give kisses and hugs, and sometimes flirt
In IMs we chat deeply, and reveal why we hurt.
We do form friendships - but - why we don't know
But some of these friendships, will flourish and grow.
Why is it on screen, we can be so bold
Telling our secrets, that have never been told.
Why is it we share, the thoughts in our mind
With those we can't see, as though we were blind.
The answer is simple, it is as clear as a bell.
We all have our problems, and need someone to tell.
We can't tell real people, but tell someone we must
So we turn to the 'puter, and to those we can trust.
Even though it is crazy UntitledA rainbow smashed
         scattered
    in pieces
A darkening bruise
    of shattered colours at largeat birth, we are starving artists
an open pot, a new room
elbow deep in sand and paint
praying for a masterpiece but
losing hair off brushes
at concerts, we are cities
a waving roar in time
calls to action, calls to
greatness no one follows
we are a meeting in lungs
and arms and song.
at friendship we are two a.m.
whispers on the phone
a danger, a place
of protection, a warmth
to our cold bones. we are
advice. we are
not always right.
at work we are chants, rattles
moving mouths to an un-sound
each arm a lifted weight, each
verb a heavy machine. we are
drowsy, and sometimes-
we are forgotten.
at age we are homes, cookies
the hum of machines, the coffee pot
the dryer. at rythm with the
month and lost to days, numbers
screaming monsters  garbage  latin.
at death we are birds footprints dust,
uncoiling roots to bring them with us,
we are an echo climbing mountains
sunrise, nightfall. we are a chorus
written into space
we are one- but only one
and we realize
at large
we lace, ribbon, bourbonplease stay please stay
please stay here anchored on my shore
beach white and sailor blue i can't
weather this hurricane alone, this tsunami
is consuming me, there are sharks in these
waters and my finger tips are
cut and bruised from trying to
hold onto you, beautiful plague
our love is an unkillable monster with
a thousand rows of teeth
but nothing stops sharks, they smell blood
they smell me
come quick and wrap your cigarette musk
around me, wind me up in
lace and ribbon and your bourbon eyes
please stay here, please lay here
come and comb the sand out of my eyelashes
pretty please with amphetamines on top
this sea is unholy, these sharks are vultures
and all the devils are here, they can smell
blood:thumb179228779: lighthouses in immortality.i guard my heart
with seas of poison;
my mind is cast
in ageless steel.
{there is no other way.
nothing could survive
the liquid death that surrounds
my still beating; human
weakness.}
shields have failed me,
and masks have broken.
my nerve endings frayed
but not numb.
{i kept falling until
i learnt to remain on the ground
growing roots instead of
growing wings.}
everyone knows that gardens
always hold that poison flower.
but no one knows where
it hides, waiting.
strange how i do with only
a single glance.
{no lie could crack the air
and twist its way through
to make itself true.
my eyes are sharper
than their teeth.}
it is considered a curse
to want to taste death.
it is considered a blessing
to have cheated it.
{when life is barren
death is the warm truth.
death is the surrounding water,
not cold plastic;
my fluid salvation.} Apocalyptic FunChaos thumping on fragile minds
Fear abides in eyes of hope
Pounding beats of terror binds
Life's tide held by fraying rope
Mercury skies and atomized lives
Nations turn to destructive hives
Molten blood in mouths of stone
Until only one is totally alone


PROSE
:thumb176503543: lost in the oceans lullaby.i am diving into the belly of the sea.
my hair is tangled in seaweed and my ears are full of sand. i'm following in the shadow of a pirate's ship and discovering how impossible it is to paint its hull a more beautiful shade of rust. i'm catching glimpses of mermaids in the mirrors of an underwater kingdom and befriending anglerfish and bottlenose dolphins.
+
i am searching in the tide pools.
i am reaching into each microscopic world and coming up with nothing but sand-encrusted fingernails and handfuls of hermit crabs. i am watching as starfish stretch their million little hands, reaching in search of something invisible to me. and my feet are becoming a home to the guppies and shellfish.
+
i am inhaling and exhaling with the moon.
i am lying among the sand dollars as the tide crashes overhead, washing up jellyfish and empty crustacean shells for the greedy seagulls. i can hear the ocean's secrets roaring in my arteries and my heart thumping in the nape of my neck. my vision is fading:thumb177067795::thumb176982964::thumb168543857::thumb170366959: Fourteenth of the SecondI will always hate the second month of the year. I will hate all of its twenty-eight days, its twenty-ninth whenever a leap year comes along, even today, the fourteenth.  I hate this month so much that I will not even speak its cursed name, for it is the month in which my world was transported from Earth to Hell.
I know today isn’t meant to be a day of hate. I know it’s meant to be the opposite. I know it’s meant to be the celebration of ultimate affection to one another.  But I cannot feel like that, not when everything I had cared for all my life had vanished in an inferno that was beyond human comprehension.
A week has passed, but the carnage has continued.
I’m standing in the wreckage of my house. Like all the houses in our street, and in most of the town, what are left are just razed ruins. I make my way through what used to be the hallway, finally stumbling across the kitchen. Mum used to do a lot of baking here. She used to tease my terrib

*FEATURED GROUPS*

lyriclub is a group focused on songs and lyric writers. They hosts contests, provide critique weeks and much more. Here are just a few gems from their gallery
SupernovaYou always tell me I'm handsome,
And I always say you're wrong,
So I thought I'd settle this right now,
By writing you this song
You are so beautiful,
I can't take my eyes off you,
And it doesn't matter what you ask,
I'd do anything for you
Like a supernova,
I am blinded by your smile,
And all I can do is love you,
For the rest of my life...!
You are my supernova,
More brilliant everyday,
It's true
I am just a pale, pale candle,
When I am compared to you
You are my supernova,
The brightest thing in my sky
You are my supernova,
And without your light,
I'd die
You are so beautiful,
And I love to see you laugh,
Sometimes I try to look away,
But I find that I can't
Like a supernova,
You are seared into my mind,
And all I can do is love you,
Until the end of time...!
You are my supernova,
More brilliant everyday,
It's true
I am just a pale, pale candle,
When I am compared to you
You are my supernova,
The brightest thing in my sky
You are my supernova,
And without your light,
I'd die
I might a photographYou post a photograph of the young you on your page
Remembering the days when you used to set your eyes on tiles
And the wall was an extreme, reaching the door was an aim

'Who's there?'
'daddy.', the familiar sound came.   
Remember the innocence in the child you were,
When dirty pants were your worst fear
The homework was your lonely deal
When you dance and you cry and kiss a girl in your class
You knew nothing about sex, you've never thought but about love.
It didn't really matter, the pleasures were so simple but it all seemed so great
I couldn't remember those days on my own,
With the folks everything seemed so soon,
Yesterdays were years ago, When I had company not alone..
  
.:thumb175532793: Lies My Mother Told MeShe told me I was beautiful
And that my eyes shine
She told me I was intelligent
An excellent design
She told me that they're only mean
Because they love me
But mother I'm sick of these lies
You can't fool me with these games anymore
Seventeen and getting older
Now lies are all I live for
And I know you thought that maybe
It was for the best
But mother if you told me the truth
Maybe I wouldn't be like this
You told me I was lovely
And that I'd be surrounded by joy
You told me that my life would be full
That is full of cute boys
And mama you know I'm not you
No matter how hard I try
I'll never be the girl you wanted me to be
You can't fool me with these games anymore
Seventeen and getting older
Now lies are all I live for
And I know you thought that maybe
It was for the best
But mother if you told me the truth
Maybe I wouldn't be like this
Mother don't lie to me
Give it to me straight
Don't worry about my feelings
They don't matter anyway
Maybe if I heard the truth
I'd turn around and b Song of Our TimeNever waste time
Never ask why
Just grab life by its wings and fly
Never be a stranger
Life's not to wager
If you fall in love - don't dare change her
How in this world do we find out who we are
Or what song to sing?
You must read between the lines in order to find out
What this life can bring
One smile can light up an entire room
Currents changing are all thanks to the moon
So listen very closely as the sea creatures sing
The song of our time
One touch so smooth can make everything alright
Have you ever wished for an endless night?
Hear the angels cry and reflect off their wings
The song of our time
Never be too shy
Don't be afraid to cry
Just let every tear go with a sigh
Never give into anxiety
Never blend in with society
Don't settle for plain - fight for a variety
Dear God, how do we ever get the courage to jump
And flap our wings
With all the lonesomeness weighing us down
Among other things?
Tell us how
One smile can light up an entire room
Currents changing are all thanks to the


theWrittenRevolution is a wonderful group for writers of all spectrums. They promote the development of writers with feedback on their work. Here are a few great works from their gallery
Until the leaves fall.i.   September is slow and stubborn and today we
     are August lovers, sleeping on the hazy rays of
     sunlight and dancing through the wet grass.
     Days float by in dreams of yellow and green,
     soft memories to tuck in between the pages
     of books until winter rises again. We're safe
      here, this girl and I, in a galaxy far from here
      as the blinds cut the light across our bodies.
ii.   She is warm and tired, breathing in the golden air
     summer leaves behind as it drags it's feet. We sit
     in her car, watching the last of the season crawl
     back to the place where it sleeps. From here, I can
     see the seams and scars of where I stitched my so spread your wings, and fly.[one] you remember me walking around with my nose stuck in a book,
colliding into people and trees and parked cars. they were right when
they told me, "get your head out of the clouds and pay some attention"
because now, my head is up and my eyes are wide open and i can see
the world for the first time – from that man on the sidewalk with the sign
that reads "will work for food" to the lifeless body of your neighbor's cat
that is left on the street. i know what the world can do, now.
and it's not what i wanted it to be.
[two] i've lied to you. i made a promise that i never intended to keep
and now, it doesn't seem like i'm going to be able to tell you the truth.
i think i did it because it was my way of telling myself that i've failed.
i let you drift too far, and everything that we used to whisper into each
other's ear at 3:00 am has become meaningless. like i never promised
you anything in the first place. you of all people should have known
i was never going to change.
[three]:thumb178693031: People.i.
There was once a mad man who sat on trains and wailed about his dead love.
No one laughed
but no one listened either.
ii.  
See that freak right down the corridor, smiling and crying at the same time?
His eyes are voids and his hair the colour of his pain.
That's a man without skin.
iii.  
Headlines: Drunk school girl murders seven classmates.
Could've been anyone.
iv.  
Broken soldiers march on.
What they care about the most lies in the pocket closest to their hearts.
It is also riddled with bullets and dust.
v.  
Blinded lovers might be considered lucky. AutopsyTake your scalpel to my heart.
Peel away the fictitious layers,
Until you find out the truth
Of how the universe destroyed me.
This is a story.
I was swallowed by a lion as a young child
He told me that freedom wasn't everything
That pain and love are important too.
I felt the earth beneath his paws
And saw the stars through his eyes.
And I loved the earth.
With a flip of your scalpel you pull that layer away
Placing it gently in the tray for future analysis.
This is a story.
I carried the forest gently in my hand
Over an age of destruction
Where all the world was desert and smoke.
So when the dust settled down and
The fire ants were gone, I allowed
A single, precious seed to drop to the earth
And the forest began anew.
You cut deeper still
Determined to find the truth in the shadows behind my heart
This is a story.
I created a universe from spools of thread
Stringing a mobile of stars
I hung it from the fingers of a god.
I kissed his lips in my dream, and fled
To a barren world of saf


poetry-book is a group for poetry and song writers to come in and share their works. Here are a few wonderful pieces from their gallery
:thumb173700750::thumb172064648: TreeAvenging summer,
She accepted the ambers
From persistent fall. machinationsthe moon cracked thrice open and yet
still she demurred,
patiently doling out hoarfrost
to winter's brittle bones
but her idle mechanisations sound oddly hollow;
they fall, tinny and flat,
upon indifferent mouths.
it was nothing less than blasphemy,
their grisly intimacy
raping her dreams ruthlessly
with rusty syringes and
scalpels,
the grotesque feat of insanity
ripping at her ghastly
wounds

Mature Content

*LITERARY HAPPENINGS

NEWS - BLOGS - ECT
LadyLincoln's Ladies of Lit: volume II is out, featuring the lovely KneelingGlory as the spotlight writer.

Literature Daily Deviations - August 2010 is a news article with the Literary DD's of August featured by our Literature GMs GaioumonBatou and Memnalar

For all your horror writers out there; pullingcandy has written an article A Simple Guide to Writing Horror

Iluvocnj2006 has written an article Living Literature: Vol. 2 featuring some lovely artists and promotions.


PROJECTS & PROMOTIONS
On the Poet is a project originally started by MeineSehnsucht creating a series of articles about dA writers, by dA writers.

DailyLitDeviations is a project by members of dA to showcase the literary works floating around dA.

Lit-Twitter is a literature bird scooping up bunches of literature bits around dA, follow their account or follow them on devLIT


CONTESTS
Poetic-Youth is holding a contests about memories. DEADLINE : 19.September.2010 > view details here

WordsArePicturesToo is holding a contest asking you to include a cat, man with one leg, black horse and two fish. DEADLINE : 25.September.2010 > view details here

FreeWrittenWords is holding a short story contest. DEADLINE : 30.September.2010 > view details here

Penessence is holding a poetry contest about Afghanistan War. DEADLINE : 01.October.2010 > view details here

Cybertronians is hosting a contest about canon characters involved in a prank. DEADLINE : 02.October.2010 > view details here

DailyLitDeviations is hosting a collaborative contest. DEADLINE : 10.October.2010 > view details here

The-Dragon-Writers are co-holding a Mini-Prose contest with the theem the dark side. DEADLINE : 31.October2010 > view details here

LITplease is back and hosting a new poetry contest What's in a Name? DEADLINE : 22.October.2010 > view details here

rockgem is hosting a Mask/Masquerade contest. DEADLINE : 31.October.2010 > view details here

*FINAL NOTE*

SUGGEST A WRITER
If you'd like to suggest a writer to be featured in the next issue of Lit Bits please send me a note with their name and three to five links/thumbs to your favorite pieces in their gallery, and a little bit about why you think they should be featured.

SUGGEST A GROUP
Suggesting a group is much like suggesting a deviant.
Send me a note with a little bit about the group and why they should be in the next issue. Also, send me a few pieces from the group that stood out to you.

NOTE : when a group or deviant you suggest is featured, you will be listed as a suggester as well. You will also be notified about the featured artist as well!

LITERARY HAPPENINGS
If you have or know of any happenings in the literature community, please feel free to also send a note with a link to the info of the project/contest/ect. so I can get some information on it.

Contests & Projects - please include theme, deadline, and link.
News & Blogs - please include link and a brief description
Other - include whatever you feel necessary